State of the Union: Biden’s ‘unity’ agenda could be tough going
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden, understanding he will have to juggle differing priorities from a divided Congress, made just a handful of new requests to lawmakers in his State of the Union address.
Biden’s speech was more about the laws he and the previous Congress enacted than what he hopes to accomplish with the one he addressed in the House chamber Tuesday night.
But he still laid out some policies he hopes the divided Congress will address. Among the most achievable are proposals Biden calls his “unity agenda.”
Those include: providing housing assistance to veterans; enacting a universal cap on outof-pocket insulin costs; more resources for cancer research; expanding on recent mental health laws; and combating the opioid epidemic.
While Republicans acknowledged interest in some of those ideas, they were mostly too annoyed with jabs Biden threw their way to entertain much talk of bipartisanship.
“I was so disappointed because I keep hoping that the guy’s gonna have a rational moment where he’s willing to work with us to get some things done that really need to be done for the American people,” House Republican Policy Committee Chair Gary Palmer, R-Ala., said. “It really felt like he was bullying us.”
Republicans also took note that Biden only made cursory mention of some of their top priorities.
“He gave short shrift to the border and immigration,” Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., said. “He gave short shrift to the challenges we’re dealing with China.”
Democrats talk opportunity
With many Republicans in a sour mood, Democrats were mostly the lawmakers talking about the bipartisan opportunities from policy ideas Biden mentioned.
“I saw tonight everyone stand when he said we should leave no veteran unhoused and ill-fed,” House Veterans’ Affairs ranking member Mark Takano said.
The Riverside Democrat said Republicans also stood when Biden touted the bipartisan law enacted last Congress to provide more generous health and disability benefits to veterans exposed to toxins during their service.
While Republicans voted for it, Takano said, it was “Democratic leadership that made that happen” and “it took veterans sleeping on the steps of the Senate to get that done.” He indicated that may not bode well for the prospects of quick action on veterans housing policy with Republicans now in control of the House.
Takano said he’s worried GOP plans to cut spending could impact veterans programs.
“I don’t want to pit homeless veterans against toxic-exposed veterans,” he said. “I don’t want a ‘Hunger Games’ within veteran programs, and I certainly don’t want to pit veterans against other Americans.”
While Biden referred vaguely to “helping veterans afford their rent,” White House aides said earlier Tuesday that his forthcoming budget request will propose that Congress “pave the path to an entitlement” for veterans housing assistance.
Republicans generally oppose creating new entitlement programs that are categorized as mandatory spending because Congress has less oversight over those programs than discretionary spending.
Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, D-Conn., said he is not sure how Republicans will receive Biden’s veterans housing push, but he thinks it’s a good idea that will help address affordable housing shortages for more than just veterans.
“If you create more dedicated veterans housing, that frees up units for other people.”
‘A lot of momentum’
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., was pleased to hear Biden advocate for antitrust legislation, an issue she’s long championed and one she hopes Congress can finally pass this Congress.
“It has a lot of momentum,” she said, citing key Senate Republicans who are backing it. But Klobuchar acknowledged that Speaker Kevin McCarthy may be an obstacle, as she said tech lobbyists seem to have his ear.
“I noticed that he stood for the protection of children on the internet,” she said. “That is a whole group of bills that we have passed. And the second piece of it we’ll be doing something on competition policy. You just cannot continue to have companies that have, like Google, 90 percent market share and then no rules of the road.”
House Energy and Commerce member Kat Cammack, R-Fla., said Biden’s pledge to hold Big Tech accountable was encouraging. But she didn’t reference the type of competition policies that Klobuchar is pushing as she noted Republicans are interested in data protection for consumers.
“The trick is going to be putting a bill together that not just survives Congress but will avoid a veto when it gets to his desk,” Cammack said. “It’s not enough just to say that we care about data and privacy, particularly when it comes to our kids. We actually have to put that together while respecting private companies’ interests.”